Winners & Losers: IL Cover, Citi Field and MLL

As we enter the holiday, IL took a look at the Winners and Losers for our weekly post. Check out what the IL staff has to say in a New York-heavy post.

Winners

Matt Kinnear (@MattKinnear)

MLL — The MLL Supplemental Draft was held last week. For the most part, the supplemental draft is inconsequential when it comes to final rosters — there are a few gems here and there and some depth for practice squads, but not much in terms of headliners. But this year, there was added excitement about the draft and buzz the week leading up to it. Kyle Devitte first pointed this out to me on one of our many MLL-related G-chats (which if archived and published one day, would make A LOT of people angry). With Mark Millon going No. 1 — whether you agree with it being the right move or not for what the Rattlers need — it created more buzz. My first year at IL, the supplemental draft was an afterthought. It’s becoming a legit offseason event, thanks to some better marketing by the league the past two years.

Terry Foy (@TerenceFoy)

Men’s Lacrosse Big East Members — There’s still a lot of uncertainty and there’s more news to come as the only thing that’s official is that the seven Catholic schools in the Big East have decided to leave the conference, but the simple fact remains that of those seven were the five remaining Big East men’s lacrosse playing teams, who were faced with losing their AQ and sitting in a limbo position waiting. At least now, those schools control their own destiny and they’re traveling as a group, likely to land in the proximity of at least one more program that will help form a conference that will keep its AQ.

Zach Babo (@ZachBabo)

The Citi Field lacrosse game – With the announcement that Michigan and Colgate, and Holy Cross and Navy, will square off in mid-March at Citi Field in Flushing, N.Y., I am excited to see how this event plays out. Flushing is about as far out in Queens as you can go, and with the presence of a lot of Mets fans already on Long Island, I am hoping there is a pretty strong allure from the local lacrosse community to come check this out. The teams aren’t exactly tied to the geographic area, but the product on the field should be pretty good, and I am just curious to see how lacrosse on a baseball field will look – how do they align the field, is there a dirt infield anywhere in the middle of the grass, can anyone launch a ball over the outfield walls, will they break out the apple for goals (please say yes!).

Casey Vock (@CVock)

Rochester Knighthawks — As much as it threw a wrench into a project I’ve worked on for a couple months, it’s pretty clear that the Rochester Knighthawks did it again: they pulled off an unthinkable trade and came out with the longer end of the stick. No matter how you spin it, it’s a deal that serves them better than it does the Philadelphia Wings, a team looking to built itself around American talent and a few Canadian players like Brodie Merrill, Kevin Crowley and Jordan Hall — all well-known in American lacrosse circles after successful college careers. But you add Dan Dawson and Paul Dawson to an already-stacked lineup in Rochester, and it looks like the Khawks could get a significant boost from the acquisition. Dawson’s a righty and plays that composer/quarterback role very well, and he’s going to pull a lot of attention to the right side. That could mean big things for the likes of lefties Jamieson, Powless, Walters and Vitarelli. Remember too that the deal sends another first-round pick to the Knighthawks (for 2016); trades and picks have been used to build this team into what it is now. If the Wings had the opportunity to read the January IL cover feature before this trade, they might have noticed that the Rochester management has conducted trades for draft picks almost exclusively with teams they expect to finish low in the standings, thus making any inherited draft picks that much more valuable. In other words, it’s not exactly a compliment from the Knighthawks if they want to trade you for your draft picks. Chemistry is certainly a concern when you’ve got all that firepower on one roster in Rochester. But it’s a relatively good problem to have.

Geoff Shannon (@Geoff_Shannon)

West Coast Lacrosse – Take a quick gander at this article, one of IL’s 15 year history look back, about the growth of the game in the West Coast. Some great stories from those involved, and also some nice comments from readers about other names involved with the development of the game out there. I’m headed out to San Diego at the turn of the year to catch up with the top recruits and the LXM tour. The development has been intriguing to watch. Would now like to see a few more NCAA men’s programs prop up in the area.

Losers

Matt Kinnear (@MattKinnear)

Those who didn’t read this — Buried behind the All-Name Team Powered by Flow Society and breaking news about conference realignment and such was a gem of a story by Casey Vock. As a celebration of IL’s 15 years of existence, we’re counting down the biggest 15 stories of the IL era. No. 10 was a look at a technological development: the offset head. Casey Vock nailed the story, and it’s a must-read for anyone who likes lacrosse. Now I know gear can be a niche that some people don’t dig, but this story is much more than that. The offset head ushered in this era of lacrosse and is a stunning look at a key moment in the history of the game. Casey got fresh interviews with Bill Brine, Alf Jacques, John Tavares and Mike Messere as part of this important story.

Terry Foy (@TerenceFoy)

Inside Lacrosse’s January Issue —As John Jiloty pointed out last week, the January issue of Inside Lacrosse Magazine will be landing in subscribers’ mailboxes soon with a player on the cover that will no longer play in the uniform he’s pictured in as Jordan Hall was traded from the Rochester Knighthawks to the Philadelphia Wings. I want to echo John’s sentiments about the lingering threat in the magazine industry that something dramatic will happen between when the issue goes to the printer and when people see it. IL’s done a pretty good job avoiding this bad luck in the five years I’ve been here, but I suppose it was inevitable that we’d get bit at some point. Luckily, Casey Vock wrote a great story that you should check out as last week’s developments really only underscores how the K-Hawks operate.

Zach Babo (@ZachBabo)

St. John’s – This is a little unfair because there are so many things that go into scheduling these kind of events, but it seems a shame the St. John’s misses out on this lacrosse event at Citi Field. Located in Jamaica, Queens, St. John’s is just a few subway stops from Willets Point/Citi Field, and with the strong base of St. John’s alums in the area, it just would have made a lot of sense to me to see maybe a St. John’s vs. someone (particularly another Big East school) get in on the action. No failure on the the Red Storm here really, just more of a shame they can’t get in on the action. Luckily, we'll catch them in the Whitman's Sampler Independence Classic.

Casey Vock (@CVock)

Fans of Fighting in Candian box lacrosse — I’m not taking a stance on it, as I go back and forth about fighting’s place in box lacrosse, especially at the youth level. But the CLA’s decision last week to require stiffer penalties for fighting might spell trouble for fans of hand-to-hand combat in the indoor world. Though I’ve got no problem with seeing it at the adult level, I’ve definitely been alarmed by some of the quite violent videos I’ve seen from the youth ranks. Some of those were disturbing and despicable. Again, I don’t want to take a position as it relates to all of the CLA, but I am able to see where it might help keep younger players focused on what matters and not encourage them to develop poor habits or bad sportsmanship. However, fighting appears to me to be an important aspect of high-level box lacrosse, as it’s oftentimes a tone-setter, a statement or a team basically putting its foot down against what it considers cheap or dirty play that, perhaps, the officials aren’t catching. While it’s already evident that not all of the associations in Canada are accepting this with open arms (see the WLA voting to reject it), it does feel like fighting has come under serious scrutiny and it’s future is a bit uncertain. If you live for flying fists in lacrosse, you might need to begin appreciating other aspects of the game.

Geoff Shannon (@Geoff_Shannon)

Long Island – Its been a tough sporting year for the Island. The Islanders announce a move to Brooklyn, the Mets trade RA Dickey, and now even the Lizards are disowning their origins by rebranding themselves the New York Lizards. It's a smart move to grow media exposure and recruiting camp acumen by building a presence in NYC. And yes, Long Island will be their traditional home. But, still, its a stinger. Maybe Nassau Coliseum can get another NLL Saints franchise back? Also, while we are at it, why don’t we change the mascot name too. Only Lizards I know from Long Island reside in the Southhampton beach bars.